In looking at Jean Baudrillard's simulacrum ideas, I was thinking about how they apply to video games as a form of media. I play video games often and would definitely say that I have a passion for them, as I see them as unique form of storytelling, though I am not unaware that elements of gaming can be problematic.
Like many, my mom believed that violent video games led to violence, and so I was not allowed to play very many as a kid; it wasn't until I was an adult that I owned my own console and played anything that would fall into the category of a "shooter" title. Though middle school me was disappointed that she wasn't permitted to play the same games as her peers, adult me understands the logic behind my mom's decision, as there are many games I play as an adult that would have been inappropriate for me to play when younger.
However, returning to the idea of the simulacrum, I think the potential for violent video games to affect me to the point that my mom and others fear was much lower than they thought. Even at a young age, I was able to differentiate from "reality" and the fictional worlds I read about in stories or saw on tv, despite any similarities the two might have. While the interactive element of video games means that the line between what is "real" and what is pixels is more blurry than other forms of media, as Baudrillard states, video games will never be reality. Most people understand this, that when they're playing a game, the actions taking place are not really how the world outside of the simulacrum works, no matter the similarities. Being desensitized to violence is a valid concern, but an entirely different one than the fear that someone playing a game will lose the ability to differentiate between worlds. People know better than to copy the actions in a game, because they can acknowledge different rules apply to themselves than their character.
“To dissimulate is to pretend not to have what one has. To simulate is to feign to have what one doesn’t have. One implies a presence, the other an absence.” Gamers understand that in a simulation (a game), the absence of consequences does not mean that their own world lacks consequences as well.
Like many, my mom believed that violent video games led to violence, and so I was not allowed to play very many as a kid; it wasn't until I was an adult that I owned my own console and played anything that would fall into the category of a "shooter" title. Though middle school me was disappointed that she wasn't permitted to play the same games as her peers, adult me understands the logic behind my mom's decision, as there are many games I play as an adult that would have been inappropriate for me to play when younger.
However, returning to the idea of the simulacrum, I think the potential for violent video games to affect me to the point that my mom and others fear was much lower than they thought. Even at a young age, I was able to differentiate from "reality" and the fictional worlds I read about in stories or saw on tv, despite any similarities the two might have. While the interactive element of video games means that the line between what is "real" and what is pixels is more blurry than other forms of media, as Baudrillard states, video games will never be reality. Most people understand this, that when they're playing a game, the actions taking place are not really how the world outside of the simulacrum works, no matter the similarities. Being desensitized to violence is a valid concern, but an entirely different one than the fear that someone playing a game will lose the ability to differentiate between worlds. People know better than to copy the actions in a game, because they can acknowledge different rules apply to themselves than their character.
“To dissimulate is to pretend not to have what one has. To simulate is to feign to have what one doesn’t have. One implies a presence, the other an absence.” Gamers understand that in a simulation (a game), the absence of consequences does not mean that their own world lacks consequences as well.
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